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HANDS ACROSS THE WATER – THAILAND

One of the highlights of this year’s Rotary D9360 Conference was the presentation by Sunday morning keynote speaker Peter Baines, co-founder of “Hands Across the Water”

Hands Across the Water is a joint enterprise between Peter Baines, an Australian police officer, and Gill Williams, a UK police colleague, who both worked as part of the international team in Thailand during the response to the Tsunami.

As Peter had done, Gill was sent to Thailand on a number of occasions and during one of her deployments she become aware of the needs of a number of Thai children who had been orphaned as a result of the Tsunami. Many of the children had lost both parents and found themselves with nobody to care for them. Sadly, many had also lost members of their extended families and their homes and villages were also destroyed.

Peter and Gill resolved after returning home from Thailand, that whilst they believed the work they were doing in identifying victims and returning the dead to their loved ones was significant, they wanted to do more to help the living survivors.

They believed that they could contribute in a meaningful way to the lives of the many children who had been orphaned by the Tsunami. It was through this belief that Hands Across the Water was born.  Peter now heads Hands Across the Water Australia whilst Gill heads up the UK arm of the not-for-profit organization.

Hands Across the Water is symbolic of the joint effort of Gill and Peter and their respective support teams working in a combined effort to construct orphanage accommodation for the children of Khao Lak. Although separated by a significant distance, Gill and Peter continue to lend a helping hand to improve the lives of those least capable of fending for themselves … the children.

Their first project was to fund the construction of a home for the orphaned children of the badly damaged Ban Nam Khem region of Phuket (near the Khao Lak resort area).  With the assistance of their support teams, it was with great pride that they attended the grand opening of the Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage in August 2006.

The Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage is in the Taqua Pa region of Thailand. This is an area that is located about two hours drive north of Phuket Island. The Khao Lak area of the Taqua Pa region was previously a resort area where a number of villages existed to support the tourist industry. Many of the local Thai people worked within the many international resorts or support industries that existed in the area or came from small fishing villages surrounding Ban Nam Khem (near the devastated Khao Lak resort area).

Many of the children who are now orphans lost their parents who were working within the resorts at the time of the Tsunami. It is a paradox that the large-scale size of many of the big international resorts employed so many local Thai’s, that this very size makes recovery a very slow process that is going to take several years to restore the area to the tourist hub that it once was.

Until the large international resorts again commence attracting large numbers of tourists, many of the locals so dependent upon them for their livelihood will have no income.

Raising the funds for the construction of the Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage began in October 2005. What quickly became evident to Peter and Gill, as they became involved with the Duang Prateep Foundation that is responsible for the fiscal and operational management of the orphanage, was the need to restore some normality in the lives of the orphan children. Simply providing accommodation for the children was not enough.

The orphanage building is bright, clean, airy and very welcoming.  It has quickly become a new home to 25 children when they moved in mid August 2006. Since then, more children have moved into the building. They are all so happy to have a solid roof over their heads again, which is a far cry from the tents the children were living in when Gill first encountered them.  But there are still some fairly basic unfulfilled needs, and Peter and Gill recognize the need to continue to support this little group well into the future so that the children can have a positive future. 

The orphanage is staffed by around 25 carers who have all been impacted by the Tsunami in some way. They too have either lost a loved one or have had their lives touched in some tragic way. The staff includes a full time Director Rotjana Phraesrithong and full time Psychologist Dr Sunyarat Ratjatawan, along with part-time carers and volunteer social workers.  Rotjana and Sunyarat welcome assistance at any time and encourage visitors to the region to drop in, take a look around the orphanage, meet the children and lend a hand.

There are another 50 children requiring accommodation in the Ban Nam Khem region.  That is a challenge that Peter, Gill and Hands Across the Water will now embark upon with a new clarity of purpose.

For more information about how you can assist the Baan Tharn Namchai orphanage, please send an email to team@handsacrossthewater.com.au